Following privatisation of the UK coal industry, ownership of UK coal exploration data was transferred to the Coal Authority (CA), who appointed the British Geological Survey as custodian of this important national geological data archive. In general, these data are publicly available, however access to data within active mining licences requires the consent of the mining licensee.

This data is the original digital data for seismic reflection surveys conducted by the National Coal Board (NCB) and its successor, British Coal Corporation (BCC). The complete archive includes analogue records comprising observers' logs; surveyors' reports, seismic sections etc. Some 13000 tapes, including field and processed seismic data, have been transcribed to Tape Image Format (TIF). Demultiplexed field data and various post-stack data can be supplied as SEGY (subject to integrity of data recovery). NB not all data is available for all profiles and no complete catalogue of the index is available.

The BGS can provide information on data availability for specific areas, prospects or lines, together with cost estimates for supply. Please use the GeoIndex at http://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html, click on ‘Map layers’, select ‘Map Theme: GeoPhysics’ and tick on ‘British Coal Sesimics’ to identify records of interest.